


Blinded

by ssdawning



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Attempted Murder, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, Kidnapping, Murder, Post Hogwarts AU, Psychological Torture, Sex, Torture, WIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-04-24 22:14:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14364801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssdawning/pseuds/ssdawning
Summary: Seven years after the Final Battle, Magical children are being kidnapped. Can Hermione and Draco work together to find who is doing this? Will they also find love along the way?





	1. Chapter 1

This story will eventually be a Draco and Hermione romance, but there will be a lot of story leading up to that point. It will be full of angst, drama, and heartache. If you want a sweet fluffy romance where Draco and Hermione get together and fall in love quickly, then you better read another story. The characters may seem OOC and that's the way I like it. Things will turn out eventually, but if you've read my bigger stories before, you know I build things up slowly. Thanks and enjoy.

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Blinded: Chapter 1

The Night Before:

The woman woke in the dead of night when she heard her child screaming. Jumping out of bed, she dashed out of her bedroom and into her son's nursery. Skidding into his room, she came to a stop at seeing the wand pointed at her son's head while being held by a scruffy looking wizard in dirty and ripped clothing.

"Don't move or your son will die." The man held the woman's son in a tight grip as he wiggled around trying to free himself. "One small curse will snuff out his life in an instant." The man's filthy hands on her pure and clean little son wanted to make her vomit.

The woman knew what he said was true, and that he meant every word he said. His face showed no mercy, as he curled his lip into a sneer. Her small, vulnerable son started to cry out for her in his tiny voice, "Mum, he's hurting me." He reached out his hand towards her. Even though he was a few steps away from her, it might have well been meters.

The man only tightened his strong grip around the boy's neck, and the child's skin started changing colors as his airway was being cut off.

"Oh sweet Merlin…please let my child go." The tears flowed freely from her eyes as she saw her toddler son being choked slowly to death. She desperately tried to think of something to do, but felt helpless knowing any small move could result in her son being killed.

Her small movement forward was hardly noticeable until she lunged for the large man. Throwing the child to the side, his wand came up, "Avada Kadvra" and the curse shot towards the woman and she fell lifeless at his feet. The small child tried to run towards his mum, but was swooped up in the man's arms, silenced, and thrown onto a broom and they flew out of the large nursery window.

The dead body of the woman, eyes open and her face set in shock, was left in the silent nursery surrounded by too many toys and no child left to play with them.

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The Next Morning

Down in level two, in the Ministry of Magic is the department of Magical Law Enforcement. Around the corner from the access lift, and past a set of heavy oak doors, lies the Auror Headquarters. Within the Auror Headquarters is a large auditorium with a capacity to hold over 200 people that would consist of the members of the department of Magical Law Enforcement. Rarely was this room ever used, until today.

The many witches and wizards came into the room chatting and talking about what had happened over the weekend. Ron Weasley kicked back his very large feet on the chair in front of him as he chatted up Seamus Finnegan about the latest win of the Chudley Cannons in the Quidditch match the night before. The two men had been Auror partners ever since Harry Potter had been made the Head Auror of the department. Ron missed being partnered with Harry, but he felt the pressure was off of him now not having to live up to the standards of being assigned cases with Harry Potter-The Boy Who Lived and now national War Hero.

Many of the former Dumbledore's Army members were now working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Some had become Aurors, others had become Hit Wizards who were a magical SWAT team, some worked for the Investigation Department, while others were members of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol, who functioned very much like the Muggle Police. Only Neville Longbottom worked outside of this building, he was a professor of Herbology at Hogwarts. He'd had his fill of fighting dark wizards and wanted some peace in his life, and plants had always been his greatest passion.

None of them spoke about why they'd been called there this morning. They all had an idea of what this would be about, but it had never involved all of them meeting together to discuss it. So they proceeded to talk about nonsensical things with no real concern for those topics and ignore the huge elephant in the room.

The chatter came to a halt when Head Auror Potter walked in and stood at the head of the room. His looks had not changed much in the seven years since he had killed the monster known as Lord Voldemort. His unruly black hair still stood on end. He still wore his same round, glasses, but he had grown another three inches. He was now a confident man in charge of one of the largest and most important organizations in the Wizarding World.

"If I could please have your attention. This meeting needs to come to order." His voice echoed throughout the large auditorium as people sat up to give him their the attention he called for.

"As you may all know, this entire department has been working on a very difficult case the past two years. With no great success, but with much dedicated effort from all of you, we have not solved this case. In fact, we're not even close to solving it."

The whole of the room shifted uncomfortably in their seats. They knew how hard it was to admit failure, especially when it involved children. With the magical population just starting to rise after the war, because of the many "post-war marriages", it had excited them all to see so many new babies entering their world. So when magical children born to Half Bloods and Pureblooded parents started to be kidnapped, it threw the newly calm society into a panic.

"Minister Shacklebolt feels it is in the best interest of our world and this department to turn the heading of this case over to someone who has the means to hopefully finally crack it. Everyone in this room will answer to this person and you will fully be following their lead." Quiet whispers ran through the room as Harry finished speaking. Who was better than Harry Potter to lead this case? He after all was the one to finally defeat the most evil wizard of their time. Minds were racing as to whom this man would be that could and would do a better job than Harry Potter.

The back door to the room opened and the sound of heels click clacking on the tiles was all that could be heard. Ron groaned in his seat, and slid further down as he stared at the woman walking by in her black, skin-tight, pencil skirt, and form fitting, red silk shirt. Her legs, with firm calves were encased in a pair of fashionable, four-inch heeled stilettos. Her hair was swept up in a tight chignon, with only a few whispers of curls falling down to frame her face.

When she made it to the front of the auditorium, she whirled around, holding a clipboard in her arms and a determined look on her face.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce to you, our newly appointed boss, Hermione Granger, Deputy Head of the division of Magical Law Enforcement." A polite round of applause could be heard amongst the room. Many felt in shock and awe as they hadn't seen nor heard from Hermione Granger for the last seven years. She'd been off somewhere to train and work while even her closest friends hadn't been aware of the location. After the war, her brief romance with Ronald Weasley had ended badly. Hermione had left the country and ended all contact with her friends.

Now those who had been closest to her didn't know how to respond to her sudden presence. Harry Potter was being detached, but professional, while Ron Weasley was timidly trying to melt into his seat. He knew he had been 90% to blame for her having gone away and leaving their lives. Ron had so shaken up the confidence of the plain and brainy bookworm that when he broke up with her, there had been nothing else for Hermione to do but run away from the trio and Wizarding England. Now she was back, and there was nothing left of the low confident, bushy haired and very plain witch. Somewhere along the way she had found her own self-worth and beauty. Her self-assured air as she walked into the room plainly showed she was not intimidated by anyone in that room, especially her former boyfriend.

Harry, always the gentleman, turned towards her, took her hand in his, shook it and bowed his head, "Welcome back to England Ms. Granger. It'll be a pleasure to work with you again." Anyone who had gone to school with the trio looked at this quite awkward situation. Instead of two close friends hugging each other after a seven-year absence, there was a casual display of common courtesy instead.

"Thank you so much Auror Potter for that kind welcome." Hermione nodded back to him. The rest of the audience sat staring at the strange "dance" happening in front of them. Whatever had occurred seven years ago had not only broken up Hermione and Ron's relationship, but it had also hindered the friendship between Harry and Hermione.

Hermione, now wearing make-up and dark red lipstick, faced the crowd of 200 plus people and cleared her throat. "As you are aware, in the past two years our world has been facing a tragedy of the kidnapping and disappearance of eight half-blood and pureblooded children, ranging between the ages of one-year and nine years respectively."

The lights went off and a screen came down where the faces of the eight children were displayed. "This department has found no trace of the children. You've found no blood, no bodies or clothing scraps have been recovered at any of the scenes. We hopefully can assume that they are all still alive." Even though Hermione was stating the facts, the whole of the room felt guilty at not being able to recover even one of the children.

"From left to right in the order of their disappearance we have three-year old Matilda Goldstein, daughter of Anthony and Patricia Goldstein, and next there is one year old Vincent Goyle son of Gregory and Millicent Goyle." Seeing the beautiful and innocent faces of the children was making some of the tender-hearted people in the room weep. As the other six slides came up showing the other six missing children, the mood in the room became even more somber.

"As of last night we have one more child to add to this list." A picture of a pale, blond headed child with grey eyes filled the screen. Gasps could be heard throughout the room, as the child was easily identifiable as a Malfoy.

"This is two-year old Scorpius Draco Malfoy. He was taken from his nursery at Malfoy Manor last night approximately around 2:00 a.m." Hermione looked out to the bodies around the room and could see the looks of shock on most faces. How could someone as famous and prestigious as a Malfoy child have become a victim? Malfoy Manor was known to be protected by unbreakable blood wards. How could anyone have broken into a fortress such as Malfoy Manor?

"To make this case even more difficult, Scorpius was not the only victim. His mother, Astoria Greengrass Malfoy, was found in the nursery murdered by an Unforgivable Curse. We now are investigating a homicide, thus why the whole department is now involved in this case and why I'm now in charge."

The lights went up and all 200 people stared at Hermione's stern face. She walked back and forth making eye contact with as many people as she could. Those sitting closest to him caught the shooting glare she sent towards Ron. He could only tuck his head down and not meet her eyes in return. What had happened between the two of them to create such animosity in Hermione Granger to her former boyfriend?

Ron looked up at Harry to get his attention, but found Harry staring at Hermione puzzled by her behavior and sudden return to England. To make matters worse, she was nothing like she had been, looks or otherwise when she had left seven years ago. The trio had truly fallen apart at the seams.  
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"Are there any questions?" Hermione looked out at all of the curious, but familiar faces staring back at her. All she wanted to do was go to the privacy of her office and get away from her former friends. She had returned to England to solve a difficult case, and maybe even prove her worth to those whom she'd left behind. The last thing she wanted now was to become entangled in any relationships. She had liked being free to date and sleep with anyone she wanted without expectations or who the press wanted to see in their Golden Girl. In fact, her latest lover was waiting for her back in Paris hoping for her swift return. Maybe she'd head back on the weekend for some needed rest and relaxation. It was hard not to let her past insecurities surface being back in England. It had taken days for her to mentally prepare to walk into this room today. Now that she was here, she was damn sure that she was not going to let anyone intimidate her. She wasn't the old Hermione Granger anymore.

Realizing that everyone was still watching her as she daydreamed, she dismissed the group. "The meeting is adjourned, but all of you need to stay on high alert. Also, be ready for some changes in how things will be run from this day forward."

Ron grumbled to the others sitting by him, "Great! It's going to be Hermione the Terror of Organization in which we do it her way or no way. She drove us all around the bend getting ready for our NEWT's." A few people sitting close by snickered at his words.

Up at the front of the room, Hermione glared at Ron as if she'd heard every word he'd said. Getting this case solved quickly had suddenly become top priority of everyone in the room, and all for different reasons.

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That is the end of chapter one. I hope that it has peaked your interest enough to hang around and read this story. I can assure you that this will be a good story with a decent plot/storyline and a romance will blossom along the way. As always, your reviews are appreciated and you always amaze me at your insight and help me know of your interest in any story I write. That's all for now.


	2. Blinded Chapter 2

As promised, Draco will be in this chapter. Hope you like it!

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Blinded: Chapter 2

As the meeting was finished, Hermione went to pick up her papers and clipboard. A hand on her arm stopped her departure. Looking up, Harry stood there waiting for a response from her. Hermione wasn't sure how she wanted to handle this uncomfortable situation.

"Would you please stay a minute so we can talk?" Harry stepped closer to her while she stepped back in a self-protective move. Her eyes belayed the turmoil she was feeling at his presence. Looking into his familiar green eyes didn't help matters at all. She looked down at his hand that was still lying on her arm. His eyes strayed to where hers landed, and he quickly removed his hand as if he'd been burnt.

"I'm really busy Auror Potter and have many things to do to get this…"

"Stop this Auror Potter shit Hermione! I'm Harry and I've always been Harry to you."

The pain on his face only made Hermione want to leave even faster. She wasn't ready for a confrontation at the moment. Hermione wasn't sure that she would be ready tomorrow, a month from now, or even a year. She hadn't planned on how she would handle the personal things that went along with her return to England. She was ready for the challenge of this job. In fact, she had recently cracked one of the largest child kidnapping and smuggling cases to ever hit France and Germany, Muggle or Wizard, in the past twenty years.

Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt had kept an eye on Hermione Granger ever since she had left Wizarding England; he had been most disappointed to lose such a bright, and brilliant witch to another country. Her perfect NEWT scores had been the ticket to enter any program, in any country. So when the chance came for him to assign a new Deputy of Magical Law Enforcement, he didn't hesitate to go and woo her, grovel at her feet, and beg Hermione to take the job. He had felt and seen her hesitancy about returning. Kingsley didn't know what had happened that had caused Hermione to run from England, but he did know that her home country needed her now. After showing her the pictures of the missing children and how nothing was being accomplished in the case, he knew Hermione would be unable to refuse the job, along with the very huge increase in pay and prestige that the job would bring her. Also, mentioning that the current head of The Magical Law Enforcement would be retiring in a few years, and naturally Hermione would move into that position of power, also motivated her to accept the position and this case.

"Not now Harry…" her eyes plead with him to drop it. Trying to stand tall she started to walk down the stairs when Harry's voice stopped her.

"If not now, when Hermione? You can't keep avoiding all of us forever, even though you've done a fine job of it the past seven years." The hurt in his voice came through as he ended.

He walked down the stairs past her and then turned around, "Not sure if you knew, but I'm a dad with two boys, James and Albus. Everyone says they look a lot like me. No red heads yet to Ginny's dismay." Harry tried to smile, but stopped at the attempt when he saw Hermione wasn't going to respond to him. "It's a scary time to have children right now." The circles under his eyes and his drawn eyebrows showed his worry and concern for his own young sons.

"I'm glad that you're back and I hope you can help us find the bastard that's taking our children." He gave her a strained smile, then turned and left the room with slumped shoulders, looking down at the floor.

Hermione took a deep breath and gave a great sigh, not happy at her lack of courage in facing her friends right now. She thanked the Gods that Ron hadn't stayed to try and talk to her too. She was afraid that she wouldn't have been able to restrain herself from hexing him. It was too soon and this case was going to take all of her time and energy, especially now that a homicide was included in the stakes. Heaven help her that it had to be Draco Malfoy's wife that had been murdered. She'd have to head there in a few hours to question the man about his whereabouts last night, and frankly she wasn't thrilled about seeing her old school nemesis again; she hoped that she'd never ever had too either. Damn that this had happened, or she may have changed her mind about returning to England.

Her hand went up to rub her temples, as a raging headache was pounding into her skull right now. Frowning, she gave another sigh and trudged towards her new office to prepare for this afternoon's interview.

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Hermione was so nervous about going to Malfoy Manor and interviewing Draco that she'd completely forgotten to eat lunch. Now with not eating, it only intensified the upset she felt in the pit of her stomach. Closing her eyes and taking a calming breath she went over the list of questions that she had previously written down.

Hermione tried to shove down the feelings of insecurity that were always there when she had to confront Malfoy. She'd always obsessed over the many flaws that he'd always brought out front and center to mock her about. She knew she was probably overthinking this and that he would be too distraught to even want to torment her today. Hermione vowed that she wouldn't act skittish around the man. Look at how far she had come the past seven years. Look at the position she now held. Granted, Malfoy also held a high position at the Ministry as the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Most people said he'd vied for this position so he could control and set the standards for trade in the magical world. After all, he still was the President of Malfoy Industries since his father was still locked up in Azkaban. He apparently would do anything to make all of his business deals work in his favor.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her office door opened and in walked Harry Potter. He stood at the door, cleared his throat, and visibly blushed at catching her ruminating.

"Are you ready to go…Hermione?" he asked tucking his hands behind his elbows. He was still treading lightly after his earlier conversation with her. A hidden part of her felt guilty at not taking the time to talk to her old friend. Her more logical side knew that now was not the time to mend fences for past grievances.

She went to run her hands through her hair, and then hesitated as she realized her hair was up today. Harry could still recognize that as one of her nervous habits. There were many reasons to be nervous, firstly going back to Malfoy Manor for the first time since the war when Bellatrix tortured her, interviewing their arch nemesis, and having to talk about the disturbing happenings from last night; well it was no wonder that both of them were acting a bit restless.

Shaking out her hands, she reached towards her desk and picked up a file that she put into her briefcase. "Let's be off then. I don't want to be late for the interview."

Hermione swept past Harry not making eye contact and leaving him alone in her office. He sighed, rolled his shoulders hearing a cracking sound from his back, and went to catch up with his long lost friend. He made sure to shut and lock her office door on the way out.

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Apparating to Malfoy Manor was the easy part; but walking up to the main door felt like walking through sludge. The high, manicured yew hedge borders still grew along the driveway on both sides. The perfectly straight driveway ran all of the way up to the main front door. The ornate wrought-iron gates had been left open for their arrival with two house elves standing guard. Hermione sniffed at the sight of them. Even now, the Malfoys' still had house elves at their beck and call. They pointed ahead to the door, "The Master awaits you inside Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger."

Interesting Hermione thought, Malfoy already knew about her new promotion. But just as his father, Lucius always had his hands in everything at the Ministry; it appeared that now Draco did too.

As they got to the door, Harry rubbed his hands down the sides of his trousers and then he massaged the back of his neck. He then scraped his hands through his hair about three times. Hermione stood there watching Harry go through all of his nervous habits, and realized that she wasn't the only one showing signs of anxiety about returning to Malfoy Manor. If the Ministry had picked the two most unlikely and unwilling people to go interview Draco Malfoy, they couldn't have done any better than Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Unfortunately because of the positions they held, they were indeed the two that had to go do this task willing or not.

The door opened with another elf to greet them. "Please enter and follow me." They both eyed the door and Harry extended his arm motioning for Hermione to go first; while she glared at him like it was his fault, sighed, and walked through. When both were in, Hermione turned back around to look at the main door as if to memorize where the exit was. That feeling was still there inside of her that prompted her to turn around and escape while she could. She wasn't sure that the feeling would ever leave her when it came to this old mansion.

To the chagrin of both, the house elf led them through the main entrance hall and towards the main drawing room. Hermione recognized the room for what it was; her many nightmares had taken her there again and again where her torture had taken place. Either Malfoy was trying to make a point, or in his grief he hadn't thought about the implications of bringing Harry and Hermione back into this same room where years ago they both had almost been killed.

Inside the house it was no different from years ago, but was still sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet and ornate and gilded furnishings. The aura of the room felt better with the Dark Magic having been cleared out after Voldemort's fall.

As they entered the room, Draco Malfoy stood in front of a large window looking out onto the vast grounds of the manor. He didn't turn around when he heard them come into the room.

"Master, I've brought Mr's Harry Potter and Ms.'s Hermione Granger to meet with you." Still Malfoy made no sign of hearing the elf or acknowledging their presence. Harry and Hermione found a spot to sit down on the closest settee.

"Would you like something to drink?" the elf inquired.

Hermione shook her head no and Harry gave a quiet, "No thank you." The elf left with a superior huff, and Hermione grinned that even the house elves at Malfoy Manor thought they were more grand and special than other house elves.

Hermione stared at Draco Malfoy, now grown up and living in a mature mans body. He definitely had not looked this way the last time she'd seen him seven years ago. He was taller, but still lean with broad shoulders. The sleeves of his black silk shirt fit tight over his muscular arms. His gray trousers fit nicely outlining his very shapely, but trim arse. He was still very handsome, at least what she could see of his face. Draco's silky blond hair he now wore freely without any gel, which swept over his eyes and made him even more good looking. He was still impeccably groomed even with what had happened to his family just hours ago.  
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Harry followed Hermione's gaze, as she hadn't taken her eyes off of the fit man. He tried not to grin at the way Hermione was lasciviously staring at him. Hermione caught Harry staring at her as she was gawking at Malfoy. She gave a small huff sitting up straight, and leaned back crossing her legs, which shifted her skirt up several centimeters. Hermione looked over at Harry whose eyes were fixated on her now very exposed thighs. She glared at him as she turned her head towards Malfoy. This was all so surreal seeing Hermione looking so fit, while she blatantly was ogling Draco Malfoy. This was definitely not what he had anticipated happening today. It almost made him wish he'd stayed in bed this morning instead of going to work.

"Did you come to conduct an interview or to stare at one another?" the familiar voice drawled in the way that only Malfoy could. His trademark sneer was still there which should have put them at ease, as it was something so recognizable from their school days at Hogwarts.

His eyes centered onto Hermione as they wandered from her face, down her red silky blouse, and lastly to the very enticing legs that only moments ago Harry Potter had been staring at. His face showed no sign of emotion as he perused her figure. The only thing she could see in his eyes was coldness and indifference; nothing had changed through the years.

Trying to gain control of the situation, Hermione stood up, trying not to wobble in her 4-inch heels. Harry could see that she wasn't going to let him have the advantage of looking down on them and glad she had taken the lead. Harry instantly jumped up seeing what Hermione was playing at and followed suit.

"Mr. Malfoy, we are here to look at the scene where the incident took place. We also need to ask you some questions about your whereabouts last night."

Draco brushed by her, slightly nudging her arm as he walked over to the liquor cabinet. He poured himself a glass of Fire Whiskey and downed it quickly. One could see it burned on the way down, but he tried not to show the effects.

"Are you sure you didn't want anything? It might help the both of you, seeing that you are still as uptight as you ever were." Harry's pinched expression and clenched jaws showed his annoyance at Malfoy's comment.

"Malfoy, we are not here to drink and I'd rather you not be drinking now either." Hermione couldn't help sounding bossy and Malfoy didn't respond well to it.

"You are in my house and I'll not have you dictate what I do or not do." He slammed his glass down refilling it with another shot of whiskey. Downing his drink quickly, he slammed his glass down again.

Harry rushed to his side, "Malfoy, we are here to help you, but we can't do that if you are drunk."

"That's very touching Potter." Malfoy grabbed his chest over his heart. "Why don't you fuck off? Why don't the both of you fuck off!" he swayed where he stood, and Harry grabbed his arm leading him towards a chair. Both Harry and Hermione had seen behavior like this at crime scenes while talking to the survivors. Either they cried their eyes out, sat in shock or lashed out in anger. Harry had expected that Malfoy would be in the anger phase.

"May we see the nursery?" Hermione asked softly, trying to leave her bossy sounding voice behind.

Malfoy turned to her, looking at her heels and moving his head up to her face. "You've grown up Granger. In fact you're quite tall now." His words baited her, but she remained calm. "Oh no, it's only those high heels making you look tall. But the rest of you…" his hands motioned to her breasts and he made the actions of feeling her up, "...has grown up too." Hermione's face flushed at his words and her body froze in place.

Harry stepped between Hermione and Malfoy, "If you won't take us to the nursery, would you please have one of your house elves take us?"

Malfoy shook his head in disgust. Pulling himself up, he wrinkled his nose and gestured with his hand, "Follow me."

Hermione looked at Harry who motioned for her to go first. They followed Malfoy up to the second floor and past several rooms with closed doors. Who knew how many rooms were truly in the manor? He wasn't going to be asking Malfoy anytime soon since he'd only ever seen the drawing room and the dungeons. He hoped to never see those damp and dirty cages again.  
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Hermione wished she'd worn different shoes as they trudged up the many stairs leading up to the next level.  
Malfoy kept stopping as they walked up the stairs while she got an eyeful of Malfoy's behind. It was hard not to ogle his fine arse being that it was right in front of her face. She blushed thinking of how unprofessional she'd been so far here, and they'd only been here ten minutes. What in Merlin would happen in the next ten minutes?

They finally came to the end of the long hallway where Malfoy reached out hesitantly and turned the knob. The door swung open to reveal a huge room that obviously was his son's nursery. It was filled with stuffed animals, toy brooms, a set of small Quidditch robes…everything that any small wizard would love to have. There was a picture painted on the wall of a seeker on a broom, which looked very much like Malfoy as a teen chasing the golden snitch and reaching out to catch it. Harry looked up at it with his own sneer on his face. She could almost read his mind thinking that it should have been a picture of Harry catching the snitch with Malfoy glaring behind him as he did. That would have shown the truth from their school days. She held back a giggle hoping her face didn't show what she was thinking.

Hermione noticed Harry looking around the room, but couldn't quite pin down what he was feeling as he catalogued what he saw in the room. She wondered what the rooms looked like where Harry's sons lived. Had he bought his sons the same toys? He had enough money that he could buy them as much as Malfoy had bought his child, but she doubted that Harry would be so extravagant.

Malfoy walked over to a large, canopy bed, with Slytherin green sheets and spread. How typical of the Slytherins to decorate their son's room in the house colors they expected their son to someday be sorted in.

His hands reached out to grab a large, red stuffed dragon that lay on the pillow. He sat on the bed and brought it up to his chest and hugged it. It was the first sign of any sorrow that the man had shown since they had gotten there. Hermione almost felt they were invading a very private moment, but she thought she had gotten used to that feeling and fought against letting her emotions take over.

"Malfoy, where were you last night when your son was taken and your wife was murdered" the question came out cold and harsh, but they needed some answers now.

He looked up with a scowl, flexing his hands and arm muscles while tossing the dragon back onto the bed. He stood suddenly and rushed into her face, "I wasn't here. I was in France." His lips curled and she could see the veins pulsing on his forehead. "I wasn't here to protect my family and the cowards came, killed my wife, and stole my son."

His pale skin turned red as he gritted his teeth, holding his arms to his side as if he wanted to punch someone. "What are you going to do to find out who took my son?" his voice wailed in distress. He reached out with both hands grabbing Hermione's arms, shaking her, until Hermione's teeth were rattling in her head.

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That was a nice long chapter that I hope will satisfy you for a bit. What was your favorite part? I liked how Harry was watching Hermione who was watching Malfoy. Ciao!


	3. Blinded Chapter 3

Blinded: Chapter 3

Last time… His pale skin turned red as he gritted his teeth, and he held his arms to his side as if he wanted to punch someone. "What are you going to do to find out who took my son?" his voice wailed in distress. He reached out with both hands grabbing Hermione's arms, shaking her, until Hermione's teeth were rattling in her head.

Harry tried prying Malfoy's hands off of Hermione. She knew she would have bruises the next morning. Harry flicked his wand out, shouting a spell that sent Malfoy back onto his son's bed.

Hermione tried to gain back her composure as she walked to the other side of the room. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly seemed to slow down her out of control heartbeat. She'd never had someone attack her while conducting an interview. She rubbed her arms where Malfoy's hands had gripped her, digging into her flesh. What was happening to her professional world where she couldn't even handle a mere interview? This had never happened, ever, in her career.

She kept her back to both men as she tried to control the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. Not only was she in pain, but also this whole scenario was for some reason getting to her. She had interviewed many parents of kidnapped children in France and Germany…but she had not known any of them personally. She'd never felt so emotionally tied to any of the victims or their parents. Why now with Malfoy was she letting feelings into play? Maybe it was just coming back to England in the first place? Maybe it was being here at the manor where nightmares still haunted her at night of being pinned down in the drawing room under Bellatrix and the Cruciatus curse? Time felt like it had stopped as Malfoy had shaken her senseless. Her stomach churned as she once again tried to control her accelerated breathing.

Looking down at her feet, she noticed the remains of a broken lamp that had not been cleaned up. There was also one tiny dragon slipper left in the room. The other one was probably still with Malfoy's son. Just imagining that little two-year-old boy in the company of some killer made her ill. It was never easy dealing with cases like this knowing how innocent these children were while caught up in some crazy adult's game.

"So Malfoy, you didn't fully answer our questions, where were you exactly last night while your…the incident took place?" Harry circled back to Malfoy holding his hands behind his back.

"I told you Potter, France. Were you not listening?" Malfoy spat back at him.

"France is a big place, do you think you could try to be more specific?"

Hermione saw the tension in Harry's face with his jaw muscles pulsing and could hear the impatience in his voice. She knew that this interview would not be an easy one, but it was turning out worse that she had predicted.

Malfoy sat back down on his son's bed holding the toy dragon in a tight grip, "I was there on ministry business Potter. Why not floo my secretary for my agenda?" His eyes did not leave the red dragon as he smoothed down the plush fur. His hands were set in a rhythm that seemed to calm the man.

Harry was now pacing round and round the nursery. He looked like a kettle about ready to boil over. Hermione had known Harry long enough to see the determined look in his eye to get some answers, here and now.

Malfoy's eyes were turned downward trying to ignore Harry and his questions. He also seemed to be ignoring that the frantic Auror was wearing a hole in the nursery floor. It was as if Malfoy was doing whatever possible to make Harry come unglued.

Hermione stood with her back to the window observing both men. Nothing had changed since their Hogwarts days. They both still hated each other with a passion. There was no trust or even a willingness to work together. She gave an internal sigh wishing that she had brought anyone other than Harry with her today. With him being the head Auror, it had been a natural choice, but her gut feeling had been that this wouldn't work.

"When did you get back Malfoy? Who found your wife's body?" The questions seemed to fly from him in an accusatory sting. He hovered by Scorpius Malfoy's bed trying to get some reaction out of the distracted man who was still fixated on his son's toy dragon.

"Why are you asking the same questions that I've already answered?" His voice sounding like that of his irritating 11- year- old poncy self. "It was those other people from your irritating department that have already asked. Go bother them." Draco's head fell back onto the large pillow lying on the bed. His eyes closed as if hoping that Harry Potter would disappear. If she hadn't known Draco Malfoy previously, she'd be quite suspicious of his behavior in trying to stall the investigation, especially in his son's behalf.

"Are you even listening to me? Hermione what should…"

Harry wasn't able to finish his sentence before Malfoy jumped off of the bed. He nudged Hermione out of the way to open the window and a cool breeze wafted in. He took a deep breath as if willing the air to help him function better. He seemed to becoming unglued around the edges and she wasn't sure what was happening in this room.

Hermione walked over to Harry mouthing for him to let up a bit. Harry only shook his head and glared at her. "Those were members of the investigation department just taking in all of the details, we're here for more specifics about the whys of this case." Harry tried outlining for Malfoy why they were there like the pureblood was a halfwit.

Malfoy turned around clapping his hands, "Bravo for you Potter that you actually know what you are supposed to be doing here. Is that why Granger is here? You still can't do anything without the brains of your group telling you how to do your job?"

Harry rushed at him, grabbing his shirt in his hands and slamming him into the wall, "You piece of shit! We're here to try and find out who killed your wife and took your son. Don't you even care?" The kettle had now boiled over, and was spilling over the sides burning everything in its pathway.

Malfoy started to laugh maniacally and shoved Harry away, smoothing down the wrinkles now found on his shirt. "It's still so easy to work you up Potter." His famous sneer directed Harry's way only made him angrier.

"Do you think this is all a game Malfoy? For someone who lost their family last night you're not acting too aggrieved because of it." Hermione flinched inside wondering whether it was time to intervene now or let the two men hammer this out between the two of them. It was about time it finally happened, even under the horrible circumstances.

"No, Potter, this is not a game to me," now Malfoy was turning red-faced and shouting at Harry, "It wasn't you that came back late last night to check on your son and find your wife stone, cold dead." He walked over to the part of the floor that still glowed around his wife's body shape where she'd been found.

He looked down at the shape, following the outline with his eyes. "I took one look at her eyes and recognized the Avada Kadvra curse. Open…staring at nothing…the look of shock…"

"Well, if anyone recognized that curse it would be…" Hermione jumped over to Harry before he could finish his sentence. She pushed him back from Malfoy.

He looked up with an intense and fevered stare, "Of course the Death Eater would know all about the Avada Kadvra, right Potter? Is that what you were going to say before your girlfriend stopped you?" he finished with a scathing tone.

He yelled at Harry who now who was standing behind Hermione. Malfoy was trying to get around her to lunge out to Harry, his feet planted wide in a fighting stance. Harry was cracking his knuckles and rolling up his sleeves ready to fight. Hermione was amazed that no wands had been drawn, and that both men were ready to fight the Muggle way. She put her hands on both men's chest, "You both stop this…right now. Time out!" She gave them a push from each side, her pounding heartbeat trying to rip open her chest.

With a low growl from Malfoy and a "Bloody Ferret" from Harry, both men stalked off in different directions that allowed Hermione to catch her breath. This could have been a Muggle boxing match from any casual Muggle observer.

Malfoy came stalking back, and Hermione crossed her arms against her chest standing up straight. "You don't get it Potter, coming home and not having your son here. You have sons, what if it was you?" The anger was now gone and the grief and frustration was coming out. He rocked forward on his toes and rubbed the back of his neck.

He stared intensely at Harry, "You do know your boys aren't safe?" It almost came out in a whisper.

"Are you threatening them Malfoy?" Harry's body tensed up and he curled his lips.

"No, you fool! You are a Half Blood and your little wife is a Pureblood, despite her being a Weasley." He swatted at the air trying to make his point.

"Don't you think this hasn't crossed my mind every day the past two years? That's why I'm here. I'm doing this for your son and mine." Harry reached up to rub where his faded scar resided, his agitation showing.

Harry looked around the room at the Quidditch picture on the wall, to the bed with the dragon lying on its side, and down to the outline of Astoria's body. Looking up to meet Hermione's eyes he swallowed and said, "I need to go. Are you OK finishing this up?"

Hermione nodded, "Go home to Ginny and your boys." Harry nodded at her and glanced angrily once more to Malfoy and left the room. The silence was deafening as Hermione and Malfoy stood silently, not moving for several minutes after Harry left.

"Don't you have a husband and kids to go home to?" Malfoy looked at her questioning as if he'd just noticed that she was still in his house.

"Stop the bullshit Malfoy. You know I'm not married, nor do I have any children." It irritated her more to have to admit that out loud than even the true realization that she wasn't married with children. Hermione noticed the slight sneer Malfoy was giving her.

"You who has your nose in every aspect of the ministry knows that I haven't been in England the past seven years." Hermione's arms were still crossed protectively in front. It seemed that was all she'd been doing since arriving at Malfoy Manor.

Malfoy strutted over standing in front of her. His eyes kept raking over her figure. He wasn't as tall when she wore her high heels, but he still stood inches above her. "Maybe you have a secret husband that you have stocked away back in France or Germany." His eyebrows wagged at her. Her dirty look back to him only made him grin wider.

"Why don't you go and play Auntie to Potter's kids then." His shifting moods were hard to keep up with, but typical in this kind of situation.

Hermione took a deep breath and sighed, "I've never even met them Malfoy. They wouldn't know me from you." With great sadness, the words cut through her soul like a knife.

Shaking off her gloomy thoughts, she tried to grab onto her calm, professional look and addressed Malfoy. "I'll be back tomorrow afternoon to continue questioning." Her eyes and words trying to challenge him back.

Malfoy raised one eyebrow, "Oh goody. I can't wait," he deadpanned. "Only if you don't bring back that irritating friend of yours."

Hermione shook her head, "No, just me. Aren't you lucky?" She gave him a false smile, and with great relief, walked out of the nursery as fast as she could.

As she headed to the stairs she heard him mutter, "Stupid Know-It-All Gryffindor".

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Somewhere in Ireland

"Tell me again why you felt the need to kidnap one more brat?" the heavyset man looked at his now frustrated companion.

"We needed this one…it's a Malfoy." The taller man tried to ignore the cries of the children that were being kept in cages throughout the large storehouse. It smelled almost as bad as if they were caging wild animals. One house elf was trying its best to take care of all of the children, but was having a hard time keeping up with the task.

"It's time to start forward with the rest of our plan. Some of these brats have been here for two years." The first man flopped down on an old sofa decorated with large, yellow flowers.

"It was vital to our plan to increase the fear in those, back in England." The taller man walked over to the newest catch, Scorpius Malfoy. "This ones pretty like his father." He poked the child with his wand. Scorpius scurried over to the farthest side of his cage away from the man, kicking off his one dragon slipper that had been left on his foot. Scorpius curled up in a ball and started sucking his thumb. The man walked away laughing.

"Why did you have to bollock it all up by killing this ones mum? We never planned to kill anyone." The man on the sofa pointed to Scorpius.

"I've changed my mind and you best be rid of your attitude. Things are only going to heat up from here on out." The tall man called out for a house elf that had been taking care of one of the kidnapped children. "I need my regular drink…now!" His loud tone made the elf jump and quickly ran off to obey.

Yes, it was time for the second stage of his plan and he was eager to get started. They would never know what hit them in a few days. Keeping the Ministry, the public and especially the parents of the children unbalanced would only keep things in his favor.

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Yikes! That made my blood chill. These men are not nice people, as you will soon find out. So, what did you think of the interaction between Draco and Hermione? I almost felt bad for Harry and what I was putting him through. Please, please review and let me know you thoughts. Thanks!


	4. Blinded Chapter 4

Blinded: Chapter 4

Hermione woke up after a restless night of sleep. It had taken her a few hours to finally drift off. This case, and more specifically Draco Malfoy, would not leave her mind. The whole time at Malfoy Manor had baffled her. Why had Malfoy been acting so strange? Did this have anything to do with the case or was he just kind of peculiar now? Or had he always been that way and she'd never been able to look past his bigotry to notice his weirdness?

Hermione tripped into the shower and turned up the heat. It felt so good to stand there and try to wake up her mind and body. She needed the hot water to relax her tight muscles. She used her favorite shampoo and conditioner that smelled of coconuts and mango. After staying there as long as she could without turning too pruny looking, she turned off the water.

Putting on her white, fluffy bathrobe she walked into her closet to choose something to wear that day. Hermione loved her huge walk in closet. She had turned into somewhat of a clotheshorse after living in France for seven years. The huge closet could fit all of the outfits she had purchased while living in Paris.

She flitted from one outfit to another. Should she wear another skirt? Or had that been distracting for her and Malfoy yesterday with so much leg showing? Maybe it would be better to wear one of her pantsuits that tended to hide her curves. That would be more professional, especially since she would be going by herself today to continue the interview. But why should she want to hide her curves from Malfoy?

Hermione plopped down in the middle of her closet sitting cross-legged. She was a little disgusted with herself that she even cared about what she should wear today. Since when did she care what Draco Malfoy thought about what she wore? Easy answer…since yesterday. She hung her head down and growled out loud.

"I'm so crazy to even care. Why would he even care about what I'm wearing? His wife was just murdered. Get it together Hermione. He's not going to be interested in another woman so soon, especially since it's you." Sometimes she loved to talk out loud to herself as if someone was really listening. She felt like she problem solved much better this way.

She jumped up and walked over to her black pantsuit and yanked it off of the hanger. She chose a boring white blouse to wear with it. Then she selected an ugly pair of two-inch heels which would at least be comfortable. In the back of her mind she knew that she was sabotaging the girlish side of her that wanted to look nice when she went back for the interview. But with her new position at the ministry, she needed to set a precedence of professionalism. The only reason that she'd worn the tight black skirt and form fitting silk shirt yesterday, was she'd known that Ron would be there. Hermione had wanted to knock his socks off and realize what he had given up seven years ago. In a way, it would only make him look foolish. She hadn't had time to go and change her outfit and why would she have needed to.

All of this thinking was giving her an early morning headache. Eating a quick breakfast of porridge, tea, and toast she was ready to head into work. She wanted to write down some notes before she went to continue her interview with Draco. She wasn't going to let him get away with the behavior he'd displayed with Harry yesterday.

Speaking of Harry, she needed to stop and talk with him about his thoughts on what happened during the interview. She had her gut feelings, but wanted to get Harry's take on things. Harry had owled her early to say he was taking the day off today. She'd rolled her eyes when Harry's new owl had tapped at her window with his message. She would have expected this kind of thing from Ron, but not Harry. His altercation with Malfoy yesterday had affected him more than she'd realized.

Grabbing her briefcase, she left her town-home and apparated away to Grimauld Place.

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Harry had hoped to be able to sleep in a little longer, but with two active boys, that never seemed to happen. Somehow both boys had ended up climbing into bed with Harry and rolling over the top of him. Their giggling had woken him up before the actual motions they were making. He acted like he was asleep then reached out and grabbed a boy in each arm. Their screaming had Ginny yelling upstairs, "What's going on up there? Boys I told you not to wake your father. "

"Now I'm going to have to tickle both of you because you disobeyed your mum." More screaming ensued until all three Potter males were laughing very hard. Harry loved his sons very much. Half of the reason he was staying home was to spend the day with them. After the interview with Malfoy and this whole case had played with his head. Seeing what Scorpius's disappearance was doing to him, made Harry come home and want to hold his sons. Family was the most important thing to him and he'd do everything in his power to protect them.

He'd owled Hermione early to let her know he was taking the day off. Getting up, he stayed in his pajamas and robe and headed to the kitchen where he could smell breakfast being cooked by Ginny.

He walked in and came up behind Ginny putting his arms around her waist. "Good morning love." He lips left a trail of kisses down her neck. She arched her neck into him leaning back against him.

"Harry stop. I'm going to burn the bacon," Ginny said laughing and enjoying the fact that her husband would be spending the day with them for once. He'd spent many years away from their family working his way up to his current position as Head Auror. "Did those two wild things wake you up? I told them to let you sleep in a little longer."

"It's OK, I slept long enough. Now I'm hungry, and not necessarily for food."

Harry's hands wandered down to Ginny's arse and up to cup her breasts.

"Harry, " she giggled again, "What if the boys see?"

"Then they'll see how important it is to please their wife someday." Harry put the spatula down and twirled Ginny around in his arms. He started kissing her deeply letting his wandering hands continue their journey from front to back.

"Harry James Potter enough! It's time to eat" She gave Harry one more kiss then wiggled out of his hold. "I promise that tonight I'll make it up to you."

"Then I'll hold you to that." Harry goosed her and walked away as Ginny gave a small shriek.

"Dad," James walked into the kitchen with a toddling Albus dragging a toy broom behind him. "There is a strange woman that's walking up and down on the sidewalk in front of our house. She keeps looking up at the house like she's angry. I think she might be trying to peek in our window."

"What does this strange woman look like?" Harry asked even though he thought he might know who this strange woman was.

"She has big, brown hair. She has a black suit on like you wear when you go to work. She also doesn't know how to smile." The description that James gave made him grin. For a four-year-old James was pretty bright. He also seemed to have the mystery woman pegged to a tee.

Harry came and peeked out of the window. James had been right. There was Hermione pacing back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the house. Every once in awhile she'd look up at the windows of Grimauld Place, scrunch her eyebrows, give a distressed look and then continue pacing. He decided that he would end her suffering.

Harry opened the door, "Morning Hermione, would you like to join us for breakfast?" He tried not to laugh at how easily he'd startled her. She jumped and drew her wand as soon as the door had opened.

"I'd like to come in for a quick chat about what happened yesterday. I'll pass on the offer for breakfast though, I've already eaten." She gave Harry a shy grin.

Harry put his arm out, motioning her to come in. He watched her as she looked around his house. There had been many changes in the past seven years since she'd seen Grimauld Place. James and Albus ran up to hide behind their dad's legs.

"Oh my, they are two little Harry's aren't they?" Hermione smiled at his boys.

"Yes, that's one thing that everyone always says. Ginny wonders when one will pop out that looks like a Weasley. I told her my good looks are just dominant." Harry gave her a cocky grin.

"I'm glad to see The Chosen One hasn't lost any of his humility." Hermione said to Harry trying to stifle a grin.

"Hermione!" Ginny came running down the hallway throwing her arms around the bewildered woman. "Harry said you might be coming round some time."

Hermione stood rather stiffly, but Ginny being like her mother would have nothing of that. Sliding her arm through hers, she starting walking Hermione down into the kitchen.

"My you've grown up nicely. You are gorgeous my old friend." Her words made Hermione blush.

"Harry said that you blew the socks off of everyone yesterday, including my daft brother." Harry now turned red at Ginny's words. "I would've liked to have seen that entrance."

Kissing his wife, Harry gave her a playful push and motioned for Hermione to sit down.

"So, you're headed back to the manor today? I hope that you've better luck with the ponce than I did yesterday." Harry shook his head. "He still knows how to steam me up a bit."

"Harry you shouldn't have let him get to you. It was like we were back in school again." Hermione scolded him.

"That's exactly what I told him Hermione. In fact, I've told him that for several years now. They seem to cross paths often with both of them working at the Ministry." Ginny put Albus in his highchair and gave both boys their breakfast. They dug in quickly, still staring at Hermione.

"So how is it being back home?" Ginny's question took Hermione by surprise. Harry watched her face wondering the same thing. After not having seen any of them in seven years she seemed a little taken back. Maybe she wasn't expecting such a warm welcome, especially from Ginny or any Weasley.

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"It's been…interesting. Many things have changed." Hermione looked around at them and at the boys who were chatting with each other. It was all so surreal, especially since when she'd left, they'd all still just been kids. She sat there questioning her own sanity of why she'd decided that it was a good idea to come here to Harry's home to talk to him. She should have demanded that he meet her at her office. But, that spark of curiosity that was part of her nature couldn't be tempered.

"So how has life been in France?" Ginny wasn't going to stop with her interrogation. She squirmed in her seat and looked around at the changes that had been made in the kitchen. She was ready to grab Harry and head into the library so Ginny's incisive chatter would stop. Again, she wasn't ready for this level of familiarity yet with any of her old friends. She was pushing the boundaries as it was showing up here at the old house.

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Harry could see and feel Hermione's anxiety as she sat there at his family's table. He noticed her watching James and Albus that were now done eating and were flinging pieces of toast at each other. They giggled when they saw a piece getting stuck in the other boys' hair. Ginny kept trying to draw Hermione into a conversation, but was having no success.

Harry once again came to her rescue, "Let's go into the drawing room to discuss the case." He pushed his chair back from the table.

Hermione jumped up, "Yes, let's do that. I need to be at Malfoy Manor in less than an hour." She said goodbye to Ginny and agreed to meet up for lunch with his wife soon.

As they walked up to the drawing room Hermione continued to look surprised as she surveyed his house. The once very dark house had been lightened up with bright paint and new furnishings. It had become a perfect place to live and raise their family.

Hermione sat down on the settee, "What really happened yesterday Harry? You let Malfoy get to you so easily."

Harry sighed, running his hands down his face, "He's Malfoy, Mione. He did it on purpose."

"Of course he did it on purpose, but Harry, you didn't have to fall for his needling. Has nothing changed in the past seven years while I've been gone?" her voice raised in concern.

Harry scowled, "He hasn't changed in how he treats me, why should I?"

"Oh, that's so childish Harry. Did you pick up that line from your son, James?" She shook her head at him.

Harry groaned, "I'm so sorry Hermione. I know it wasn't very professional and I promise to do better."

"You better, because remember, I'm your new boss." Hermione tried to cover a grin. She seemed appeased for a minute. But, then her face looked troubled like she wanted to say something else to him.

She then almost shouted out to him, "Did he seem to be acting funny?" She stood up and started walking around the room, not really looking where she was going.

Harry snorted, "When does he not act funny? He's only gotten stranger as he ages."

Hermione glared at him like she used to when he wasn't paying attention to something she'd said, "No, I mean in how he was responding to the case…his wife's murder and his son's kidnapping."

Harry looked at her. He knew her brain was in full working mode and wanted to hear more. This was usually when she came up with her best ideas.

"You don't think he had anything to do with all of this, the murder and the kidnapping, do you?" Her question wasn't what he'd expected to hear. That thought hadn't even crossed his mind. She came over to where he was sitting.

"You think he murdered his own wife and had his son kidnapped? Why would he do that?"

"Most of the parents I've worked with in kidnapping cases are very willing to do whatever they can to help us in finding their child, not harassing law enforcement employees." Hermione kept pacing the floor, narrowly missing furniture as she wandered about.

Harry leaned backed thinking about her words. Malfoy has seemed to be off, but in his anger he hadn't thought much beyond him acting like a right git. To Harry that was his normal behavior and had been for the entire time he'd known Draco Malfoy.

"What would be his motives though? Whenever I've seen him with his son, he couldn't be prouder of finally having an heir." It just didn't make sense. Harry could tell that Malfoy loved his son as much as Harry loved his own boys.

Hermione crossed her arms still deep in thought. "I'm going to dig deeper today. I need a break in this case and somehow I'm thinking I may find it at the Manor."

She bent over to pick up her briefcase, "I'll send my Patronus if I need help."

Harry grinned at her, "Still an otter Hermione?"

She smiled back at him, "Yes, Harry. That hasn't changed."

"Good luck! You'll need it."

As she was walking towards the door he yelled out, "You should have worn another skirt to show off those pretty legs of yours."

Yelling back, she said with a giggle, "Harry Potter!" Then the front door slammed closed. He hoped that he wouldn't be seeing her Patronus anytime soon.

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I'd planned on this chapter having Hermione meeting up with Draco at the Manor. Her little stop at Harry's house turned out to be longer than expected. It also shows how her friendship with Harry is starting to be repaired. So, Hermione showing up at the Manor will be at the beginning of chapter five. I promise!


	5. Blinded Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you it'd be a slow burn to this romance, but I hope you're liking the mystery along the way.

Blinded Chapter 5

As she apparated to Malfoy Manor, she took a deep breath and looked around at the beautiful grounds. She admired the way that Draco had changed things in making the manor a friendlier looking place since the time when Voldemort had lived there.

The gates were once again open in anticipation of her appointment at 10:00 a.m. Before she could knock on the door it opened with a house elf welcoming her in. "This way Ms. Granger. Please follow." He led her down the hall to a room she hadn't been to before. Walking in she couldn't help but stare at the humongous library. She gaped as she looked at the high shelves of books, books, and more books reaching to the ceiling.

"So what do you think Granger? I thought that this room would be to your liking." Malfoy gave her one of his infamous grins. "Left you speechless I see. Just as I predicted."

She looked at him trying to regain her composure. She knew she probably looked liked a child walking into Honeydukes for the first time.

"Very impressive Malfoy." Her eyes roamed from one book to the next. It had been a long time since she'd just browsed in a library and found a book for pleasure reading. Most of the time she was reading for research and nothing else.

It took her a moment to shake herself out of her trance. It was just like Malfoy to try to find some way to distract her and draw the attention away from him. This didn't help to dim any of her strong suspicions about him somehow being involved.

"While I appreciate the tour Malfoy, that's not why I'm here." She turned away from the bookshelves to look at him.

He stood by a small table that held a decanter full of Firewhisky. Malfoy helped himself to a large shot of the liquor and drank it down. Holding up the glass towards Hermione he asked, "Would you care for a drink?"

Hermione almost rolled her eyes, but tried to control that action. "No thank you. Getting drunk at 10:00 a.m. is against Ministry rules as you already know."

Malfoy gave her a lopsided grin, "Your loss love. But it might help you loosen up a bit. You still walk around like you have a stick up your arse."

Hermione pinched her lips together and held her arm down at her side. What she really wanted to do was hex the nincompoop into next week, but knew he was just trying to get a reaction out of her like he had Harry yesterday.

She walked over to him and took the glass out of his hands before he could get any more liquor into his system. She needed some answers from him, and a drunk Malfoy wouldn't be a fountain of knowledge except crude words spouting from his mouth.

"You're a spoilsport Granger. You ruin everything." He sneered at the woman standing in front of him.

"This isn't happy hour Malfoy and I'm no barmaid." She crossed her arms in front of her chest getting ready for a face off.

The sneer disappeared from his face until all that was left was a long frown. All of the steam had seemed to be let out of him. Standing close to him Hermione could see more clearly the dark circles under his eyes. His pale skin seemed to have taken on a yellowish tint. His normally perfect hair now lay flat and lifeless. She looked into Malfoy's grey eyes that screamed of sadness. They wanted to say something to her, but she wasn't sure what it was. They stood there for sixty seconds staring into each other's eyes, though it felt like hours. Finally Malfoy turned around and walked to the nearest chair and sat down. He hung his head down, leaned forward and began to cry. It wasn't a soft cry. It wasn't a loud cry. It was something you might hear from a lost puppy wanting it's mum. The utter sadness radiating from this man drew Hermione to him.

She was there in an instant standing in front of him. Before she knew what was happening, he reached out pulling her into him. His arms encircled her waist, while his head rested on her stomach and her body stiffened. At first Hermione didn't know what to do with her hands. She looked like a bird in flight with her hands flapping out to the sides trying to decide where they should land. She finally put her hands on his shoulders, rubbing in soft circles to calm him like she often had done with Harry when he'd been upset.

Her mind was spinning as this whole thing had taken her by surprise. Her mind seemed to have gone blank. What should she say to him as he was mourning the loss of his wife?

She'd never been put into such an intimate, physical position with one of the parents of a kidnapped child. She usually knew what to say, but this was entirely different, especially from her former nemesis.

Finally her mind shifted into gear, "I'm so sorry for the loss of your wife. I know you probably loved her so much and will miss her terribly."

As soon as the words left her lips, his hands landed on her hips and pushed her back a bit so he could look up at her. "I don't miss that shrew!" The words came out in a shout. Then he continued, "So you think I loved her? Think about it Granger…arranged, Pureblood marriage? Only having sex to produce an heir and spending all of my money like she truly deserved to…" The sneer returned to his face and he stood up.

"My tears are for my son. He's one of the few people that I have ever truly loved in my life." His hands tightened on her hips as if to enunciate his point.

"I'm truly sorry that I mistook whom your tears were for." She had never been more sincere in her life. She knew what it was like to be with someone who only was going through the motions of trying to be with you. It sounded like he'd been stung in love too.

"Tell me what I can do Granger to help you find my son." His sincere plea melted all of her concerns about his supposed involvement in the kidnapping. Anyone walking into the room would have gotten the wrong idea about what was happening. Standing closely together, his hands on her hips and her hands on top of his, and the couple staring into each other's eyes spoke of deep intimacy.

As if in a dream, and before she could stop her hand from moving, Hermione reached up to place her hand on Draco's cheek. He leaned into her touch and she felt like liquid heat was melting into her hand and heading straight into her heart. His eyes looked into hers searching, trying to find some meaning in what was happening between the two former enemies.

"Do you truly mean it Malfoy? No games and playing around, but real work from you?"

"Yes, Granger, I mean it." He gave her a rare smile and she dropped her hand and stepped back. "I will use every resource I have to help you." Hermione went over to the table where the Firewhiskey decanter stood, and poured herself and Malfoy another drink.

He sauntered over, "I thought you said you couldn't drink whilst working under ministry hours?" He grabbed the glass from her and downed his whiskey.

She took her drink and knocked it back quickly bringing tears to her eyes. "Even I can be wrong at times Malfoy. Just don't let the public know alright?"

"OK," he again gave her one of his rare grins. "I'm glad to see that stick has dislodged from that pretty, little arse of yours."

"Gods Malfoy! You really know how to ruin a moment don't you?" She smacked his arm almost knocking his glass out of his hand. "No more drinking, it's time to go back to my office."

He gave a big sigh, "Always have to be the bossy know it all." That sentiment earned him one more smack on his arm as Hermione brushed by him with a huff.

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Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy entering together into The Ministry of Magic, not only got the gossip mongers squawking, but made most people jump out of their way as they powerfully strutted through the grand foyer of the ministry.

No one stopped them as they looked like they were on a mission. Hermione walked slightly in front of Draco, as it was her offices they were going to. As they got to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, heads turned as their new Deputy Head walked in with someone as notorious as Draco Malfoy, and because it was his son that had been the latest kidnapping victim. The pair talked to no one, not even Hermione's secretary who made eye contact with Hermione. The stern look she received from her boss assured her that she needed to make sure that they were left alone and not disturbed.

As Hermione's office door shut, Draco sunk into the closest chair which just happened to be Hermione's. She sighed, "Out of my chair Malfoy. That's my desk and my chair."

"But it's nice and comfy and better than that chair," he pointed to the straight-backed office chair sitting across from her desk.

"Call over to your own office if you want your personal nice, comfy chair." Hermione glared at the man who was starting to get on her nerves.

Draco looked offended at her words, "Well that's not very welcoming Deputy Granger." He got up and sat in the chair on the other side of the desk.

"I'm not the Welcome Wagon Malfoy" Hermione snipped at him.

"What's a Welcome Wagon Granger?" Malfoy asked with all sincerity. He picked up a knick-knack sitting on her desk in the shape of the Eiffel Tower. Hermione grabbed it out of his hands and smacked it down on her desk and then sat in her chair.

"Oh, never mind. We didn't come here to discuss inane things." Hermione's patience levels were waning the more time she spent around Draco and on this case. She reached around to the filing cabinet behind her. Lifting a huge file out, she dropped it on the desk with a bang.

"This is what I have to work through. This is two years of notes, leads, and just plain crazy ideas about who is behind the kidnappings."

Draco looked at the huge folder curiously, "You would think with all of that information that they'd be closer to finding the kidnappers."

"The problem is, much of the material contained in this folder is pure nonsense from busybodies who want to feel important." Hermione reached up to push her fluff of hair behind her shoulders.

Hermione watched as Draco looked around her office. She knew that it was almost empty and sterile looking. She wanted to keep it that way. She wasn't sure that she wanted to become attached to being back here. She knew for sure that she didn't want to become attached deeply with those who used to be in her life. It was easier this way to keep a distance from others and less chance of being hurt.

Xxxxxxxx

(Two hours later)

Draco crumpled up the paper he'd been reading and tossed it into the trashcan. He picked up another paper and then proceeded to do the same thing to that piece. As he picked up a third paper from the file and started balling it up, he was startled from his crumpling.

"Draco Malfoy stop that this instant! Those are official papers you are ruining." Hermione tried to act stern besides the fact she wanted to do the same thing to the papers that she'd been perusing.

"What did you call me?" Draco asked sitting up in his chair staring at Hermione.

"I called you Draco Malfoy. That is your name isn't it?" Hermione gave him a sneer to equal his own.

"Well yes…but that's the first time you've ever called me Draco. It just surprised me." Hermione rolled her eyes at him. She did understand why this would be shocking to him. She knew if he ever started calling her by her first name it would be awkward.

She leaned back in her chair and knocked some of the papers onto the floor. "This file is truly full of rubbish isn't it?" Draco cocked his eyebrow at her statement. "I guess that explains why Kingsley came begging on bended knee for me to head this investigation."

"Because you are a hot shot investigator who can solve any case, right?" Draco egged her on. His tone came out a bit teasing as he kicked his legs up onto her desk.

Hermione leaned forward and casually pushed his legs off her now cluttered desk. "No, not at all. He wanted someone else to take the fall for the lack of momentum on this case. He couldn't have the great Harry Potter take responsibility for it could he?" Hermione turned her nose up at her own words.

Draco smirked at her, "Little bit of resentment there Granger? We all can't be as wonderful as the Savior of the Wizarding World can we?" Hermione couldn't help but smile back at him. "I thought you and Potter were best friends?"

"Well, best friends usually support each other and believe them when they tell them about what another best friend has done. And then they don't take sides." Hermione had crossed her arms letting the words spill from her mouth. Draco just sat there studying her. She finally looked up. "What?"

"Is that why you left England?" He stared at her waiting for answer. His grey eyes seemed to want to penetrate her mind making her very uncomfortable. There was no way in hell that she was going to get into the true reasons of why she'd left seven years ago. Spilling all of her secrets to Draco Malfoy wasn't on the agenda for the day.

Before she could say anything else or he could keep questioning her, there was a rap on the office door.

"Ms. Granger, something just came into the Auror department and you need to take a look at it."

Hermione jumped up from her desk and swung the door open. Auror Dean Thomas walked in holding a package wrapped up in red paper. He set it on Hermione's desk.

"Has anyone other than you touched the package? Also, how did it arrive?" Hermione's brain was back to running at full gear.

"Oddly enough, it was delivered to the main lobby by a Muggle postman. We quickly realized he was under the Imperius Curse. We had to obliviate him after he delivered the package." Dean Thomas looked just as concerned as Hermione felt.

Looking over at Malfoy he looked even paler than normal. This package could mean nothing about this case or it could turn out to be something huge. They wouldn't know until they opened it.

Hermione got her wand out to check for any spells or curses that might be on the package, but Dean stopped her, "We've already thoroughly checked the package and found no curses or traces of spells anywhere on the package."

"Thank you Dean for being so meticulous on your end." Hermione smiled at her former Gryffindor housemate.

Then her eyes looked over again to Malfoy who sat staring at the package. He looked as if he were frozen in his seat. "Well, are you going to open it? Or are we going to keep looking at the beautiful red paper?" Draco mumbled.

His words woke Hermione up from her stupor. She hated this part of her job. This same thing had happened before during a kidnapping case. The object inside the box hadn't been a pleasant thing to look at. She felt hesitant to open up this box expecting the worst to have happened again.

Hermione tried to steady her hands as she didn't want to truly show how she was feeling in front of Malfoy. After all, this could possibly be a link to his son. With trembling fingers, her hands tore at the red wrapping paper that fell away onto the floor. The box on the outside said, "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes" and Hermione felt either this was funny or a very sick joke.

Both Dean and Draco kept their eyes on her and she wanted to ask them to look away, but no words would come from her dry mouth. She ran her tongue over her chapped lips and took a deep breath. Slowly she lifted the lid off of the box and then gasped, despite trying not to react.

Draco looked in the box after hearing Hermione's response, "Oh sweet Merlin!" He looked like he wanted to vomit as his skin became pale and he almost fell over. He stumbled backwards and fell into his chair as his hand went over his mouth as if to hold back a scream.

Dean leaned over and looked into the box, "Is that a child's finger?" Dean also looked liked he wanted to lose whatever was in his stomach.

"We are dealing with some pretty sick bastards that's all I'm going to say right now." Hermione also felt nauseous as she looked at the severed finger of a child surrounded by six pink and purple, very dead and mutilated Pygmy Puffs.

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I must know what you're thinking! Please review and I promise not to keep you waiting too long with this evil cliffy I've left for you.


	6. Blinded Chapter 6

Blinded: Chapter 6

Hermione stood still for the longest time staring at the box, and then she looked over at Draco. She knew that she needed to do something, but so many feelings and thoughts were rushing around her. She knew professionally what she should do, and she knew what her human side felt like doing. The professional in her won out.

“Dean, the first thing that must be done is to see if we can identify whom the…evidence belongs to.” In the past few years Muggle forensic science and wizarding spells had been combined for use in cases like this. Much like identifying DNA was done in the Muggle world, wizards could now do this with their specimens. It had been a huge breakthrough in many of the cases Hermione had worked on.

“Malfoy,” she walked around her desk to stand by the man’s side. He still was bent forward, holding his stomach like he wanted to throw up. He didn’t respond to his name. “Draco, you need to go with Dean down to the lab so they can take a sample of your DNA to see…” The words didn’t want to leave her mouth. She hesitated trying to find the right way to say what needed to be said.

 “You want to see if that could be Scorpius’s finger, right?” Draco sat up to meet her eyes. With a self depreciating tone he said, “You’re probably wondering why I can’t tell you if it’s his finger or not?” Hermione hadn’t even thought that at all. None of them had really looked too long at the digit.

“You see, it’s hard to tell when it’s not with the rest of him.” His voice broke off in a choked whisper. “I miss holding his hand.” Hermione could see that he felt so lost. This was a familiar sight with the parents left behind. There always was survivor’s guilt whether the child died or not. They just knew that they weren’t able to protect their child and it almost killed many of them.

 Hermione took Draco’s hand and guided him up out of his chair. “You can come back here when they are done taking your sample.” His face was so crestfallen. “Or, if you want to go back to the manor that would be fine.” He simply nodded to her and walked out the room with Dean holding the box.

Hermione dropped into her chair and fell apart. She could feel the tears as they coursed down her cheeks. This had never happened before. She had never had these cases affect her so personally, but somehow Draco Malfoy and his son had changed it all for her. Seeing that tiny child’s finger had grabbed her heart, along with seeing how Draco had reacted when he looked at it.

Quickly wiping her tears away, she gave a big sigh and then bent her neck back and forth to get rid of some kinks that had landed there. Taking a deep breath she opened up the file and took out the pictures of all of the missing children. She narrowed it down to the children who would be around the age of having a finger the size of the one that had been in the box. It always hit you in the gut to see the children’s photos lined up together. What kind of monsters stole children away from their loving parents?

Hermione looked around her sterile office and realized she really hated her job. The realization was, the last several years of solving case after case was only a way of not facing her personal life. Becoming absorbed in the sometimes-morbid task of finding missing children had only been a way to avoid coming back here and resolving the past mistakes, received and given.

Hermione called in her secretary, and asked her to owl the remaining parents to come in for DNA samples. Maybe they had no clue to where the children were at the moment, but they could at least figure out which child had been dismembered and could possibly have been killed. Her instincts told her this child was still alive. If they had killed the child they would have sent back more than a finger like the case a few years ago.

Still feeling restless, she left her office and took the lift to the lab to wait personally for the results. Then she mentally made herself ready to deliver the news, good or bad to Malfoy Manor, and possibly the other parents depending upon the results. Thankfully those results would come back within hours and not days.

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Hermione picked up her hot cup of afternoon tea. The Darjeeling with its light and delicate taste gave her a refreshing lift as she waited. She had been in the lab offices for over an hour trying not to show her impatience. She’d sent an owl off to Harry requesting him to come to the ministry, even if it was his day off.

Watching the door waiting for Harry helped to kill some time. Lunch came and went, but her stomach could only handle the tea. Without noticing, her toe started tapping a nervous rhythm that would have driven some people crazy. The office door swung open and a concerned looking Harry Potter came in.

“Any news yet?” Harry came to stand by Hermione.

“No, but it should be soon. I sent all of the parents home saying we’d send messages when results came in.” She kept sipping on her tea hoping somehow it would help her sagging spirits.

“Have anymore clues been found concerning who sent the box?”

“That’s the biggest problem. Whoever sent it covered their tracks effectively by involving the Muggle Postman.” Hermione felt this was the most frustrating thing of all. “It’s like all tracks leading to the kidnappers disappeared once the package got into the postman’s hands.”

“What about the wrapping paper on the package? Could any prints be taken and analyzed?” Harry seemed to be as frustrated as she was.

“No. With as many people handling the package, including myself, there were too many prints to get definitive results. I should have known better.” Hermione’s anger surfaced, and her hand slammed down knocking into her tea. “In fact, this whole department should have known better. This is the first procedural change that will be put into place tomorrow.”

Harry ran a hand through his hair. He’d also felt that this should be something changed in the way that evidence was handled in the department.

Hermione looked up and saw the head of the forensics team was coming out of the lab, his face unreadable.

“Ms. Granger, we have the tissue results linked up to the correct parent. The digit does belong to one of the missing children.” He handed the report to her and left the room.

Hermione held the report against her body not wanting to read the results, even though she had waited over an hour and half for them.

“Well, what does it say? Whose parents are we going to be delivering the grim news to?” Harry asked the questions that she was wishing she could hold off answering, even though she knew it was inevitable.

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 Hermione was about to apparate to the manor to speak to Draco.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Harry asked, even though she knew that was the last place that he wanted to return to.

“I appreciate the offer, but it’s best that I go alone.” She actually was able to find a slim smile to give him. “Just be here early tomorrow morning when we start a shake down with your Aurors and others in the department. I’m putting you in charge of the training.”

“Wow, thanks Hermione. It’ll be my pleasure to lecture them about what idiots we’ve all been for years.” Harry tried to lighten the mood for her before he left. “Good luck Hermione.”

“Thanks Harry. I’d rather trade you places and let you go talk to Malfoy.” She scrunched up her face, “It’s all been rather odd dealing with him as an adult.”

“Oh, I know Hermione and we’d end up killing each other so the git is all yours.”

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The longest walk is the one where you have to deliver news whether that news is good or bad. She felt like she lived at Draco’s house now from how often she had been there the last few days.

She’d considered sending a message that she was coming, but either way he’d been waiting for a few hours and a few minutes wouldn’t make any difference. This visit unfortunately would not be her last until the case was solved.

Once again the gates opened to her and she slowly walked up to the front door. Staring at the extravagant doorknocker, which she had never used once the past few days, she contemplated whether or not it was time to use it. The house elf beat her to it once again and opened the door while she was in the process of raising her hand. It made her wonder if surveillance cameras were on the grounds. Of course that would be utter nonsense, because no one had figured out yet how to intertwine Muggle electricity and magic. Maybe in her older years or when this case was solved, she’d hide away somewhere and spend all of her time figuring out this mystery, But, for now she had news to share to a very distraught and nervous father.

Hermione was taken upstairs back to the nursery. She wasn’t surprised at all that she would find him up here as he awaited news concerning his son. It had become a familiar place to find grieving parents spending hours in their missing child’s room.

Draco was lying down on his son’s bed grasping the red, toy dragon in his arms. His eyes were closed, but his body was tensed up, and she wondered if he was really asleep. She almost hoped that he’d been able to get some rest, because from the circles under his eyes, it looked like he hadn’t been able to sleep at all since his son’s disappearance.

The house elf walked over to Draco, “Master, I’ve got the Ms.’s Granger here to see you.” He made no movement at the elf’s words. The elf’s hands reached up to slightly shake his master.

Without any warning, Draco jumped out of bed and almost trampled down his servant. The tiny house elf squealed and fell backwards hitting its head on the floor. Hermione screamed and ran over to the elf to help. Draco realizing what was happening, turned around to help his elf and ran straight into Hermione.

“Ow! Bleeding Hell woman!” Draco bellowed as he held onto his chin.

“You big oaf! What were you thinking?” Hermione reached up to feel the lump now forming on the edge of her eyebrow. “You have the pointiest chin in the world!”

“It’s not my fault that you both were sneaking in here while I was trying to take a kip.”

“Well, maybe some of us are here on official business and didn’t want to wait any longer to give you some news.” The words instantly stopped Draco from what he’d been planning on saying. His eyes found hers and his mouth closed. The sarcastic words that he’d been planning on saying seemed to disappear. Hermione felt something else coming from Draco: fear.

“Well? Are you going to spill or just stand there staring at me?” Hermione wished that the words had been said with some sarcasm, but he’d been serious.

Hermione stepped forward, “Let’s go sit down,” she put her hand on his arm to steer him towards the bed.

Draco’s hand came up to bat her hand away, “No, I don’t want to sit down. Just tell me.” The words came out as a plea.

“Draco…it wasn’t a match.” He cocked his head still looking at her like he hadn’t heard her. “It wasn’t Scorpius’s finger. It wasn’t his…” Before she could finish she felt herself being scooped up in Draco’s arms. He swung her around and around, holding her tightly against him. Setting her down, his arms still encircled her. His forehead came to rest against hers. Hermione found her arms reaching around Draco. They stood there holding each other for several minutes. The only sounds heard were from their own breathing.

“Thank you Hermione.” She looked up at him with surprise at hearing him call her by her given name. Yes, it had been awkward, but nice.

“I had nothing to do with it. A small bit of luck was on your side today.” She smiled at him, but she felt a small stab to her heart thinking of how she still needed to go to the Goldsteins to deliver the bad news to them.

“Then thank you for being here for me.” He leaned forward and kissed her brow where his chin had rammed into her. “And for not sending Potter to deliver the news.” Just for a second she saw a light in his eyes and saw the old sarcastic Draco Malfoy. Hermione couldn’t stop herself from giggling.

“I need to go now,” she stepped out of his arms. “I have other parents that I must meet with.” The smile left both of their faces.

“But, I promise we can meet up again tomorrow. I have some theories to bounce off of you. I need another brain that thinks like mine.” Somehow those words seemed to bring some comfort to Draco.

“Are you implying that I’m as smart as the brightest witch of our age Hermione Granger?” Draco lifted an eyebrow as he folded his arms.

“I’m just saying, there’s no need to wear out my brain while yours is sitting idly here doing nothing.” She tried to keep a straight face while Draco smirked at her response. “Good night Draco.”

Hermione left a quiet Draco and hurried down the stairs. It had been a tiring day and she still had to deliver the bad news that she’d been dreading all day.

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Thoughts? What do you think about the relationship between Draco and Hermione? It’s slow, but bits and pieces are building along the way. This is not the kind of story where things would move that quickly…for many reasons. I’d love to hear back from more of you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? What do you think about the relationship between Draco and Hermione? It’s slow, but bits and pieces are building along the way. This is not the kind of story where things would move that quickly…for many reasons. I’d love to hear back from more of you!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mystery continues and Draco and Hermione keep getting to know each other better!

Hermione came stumbling through the door of her flat. She kicked off her shoes and they went flying against the wall. She tugged at the buttons of her jacket, shrugging it off and threw it on the floor. Heading into the kitchen she got her bottle of red wine she'd been saving for the right occasion and flopped onto the sofa. Within seconds she had the bottle open and was chugging the wine like it were water. Her head hit the back of the cushion and she closed her eyes thinking about the long day that was finally ending.

She'd eventually made it to all of the parents' homes, ending with the meeting at the Goldsteins' last. Both parents had broken down when Hermione had revealed that the finger in the box belonged to their child. She'd tried to give them hope that she felt like their daughter was still alive, but Mrs. Goldstein finally had to be carried up to her room after collapsing from crying so hard and for so long.

Hermione was so frustrated that she truly had no leads in this case. Tomorrow she wanted to pick Draco's brain about any possible suspects that maybe the Aurors hadn't thought of. Malfoy of course had run in circles with darker leanings than most wizards. If she could get him thinking outside of the box, maybe they would be a step closer in finding the missing children.

Hermione took the last swallow from the bottle, and it fell out of her hand rolling across the wooden floor. With a fuzzy feeling brain, and a tired, sluggish body, she fell asleep right there on the sofa.

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Draco Malfoy woke up with a start. He could have sworn he'd heard Scorpius cry out for him. He threw off the covers and ran out of his room, down the hallway and into the nursery. His feet skidded to a stop when his eyes looked at the empty bed. There was no blond, silky-haired two year old with the big grey eyes reaching out for his father. The cold, dark room just felt so hollow. All of the life had been sucked out of the brightly, decorated room where his son had been taken.

Draco had to lean against the wall lest he fall over from grief. Why did it have to be his son? The only good thing in his life and it was taken from him. He knew the world and the universe owed him nothing. The Gods knew he was no saint and that he deserved nothing special. But, he had been given something very special in the form of a young boy who personified everything good that he'd always wished for. Even though he'd made many mistakes in his life, his son had not been a mistake. It was in fact the only good thing he'd ever been part of.

Draco slid down the wall until he crumpled up into a ball on the floor. He'd never cried so much his whole life. This was even taking into account all the tears he'd cried through sixth year while trying to figure out how to fix the cabinet in the Room of Requirement and how to kill off Dumbledore. His worries from that time in his life didn't even compare to how he felt now. He'd been scared for his parents and himself that year. Now, he knew he'd never recover, nor want to live if his son didn't come back to him alive.

The wooden floor felt cold on his face. His fingers traced patterns on the floor. The sun was starting to come out and light up the room. The sun's rays lit up the murals of the Quidditch players on the walls. Scorpius had loved looking at them and hearing the many stories of Quidditch games Draco had played while at Hogwarts. That had always been a highlight of his day to tell his son stories at bedtime and see the excitement in the eyes that were so like his own.

Draco pulled himself up from the floor and wandered over to the bed. It seemed liked an eternity since Scorpius had been taken, even though it had only been a few days. He just wanted to go take a shower and head to the ministry so he and Hermione could start working again. He would do anything and everything to bring his son back alive. With a great sigh he stood up, and with a stronger determination he headed back to his own suite of rooms. The sooner he made it there it'd be one step closer to holding his son in his arms again.

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Oh, her head hurt. Leaning up she looked around her living room and realized what had happened last night. The empty wine bottle left on the floor confirmed her thoughts. She'd come home and got drunk on the only thing she could find in the house. It had all been too much yesterday, but today was a new day to work on solving this case.

With a quick shower, a piece of toast, and cup of tea later, Hermione left her flat dressed in a bright yellow dress. It was time to make a difference in this case. When she walked into her office, she was surprised to see that Draco Malfoy was already waiting in the outer area speaking softly with her assistant. Of course her assistant was giving all of her attention to the handsome head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He seemed to be listening attentively to whatever her chatterbox assistant was blabbing about. It shouldn't bother her that Malfoy was paying attention to another woman in her own office, but frankly it did for some reason. This was annoying Hermione that she was caring so much about what this man did and said.

Hermione walked in, "Good Morning to you both." She put a smile on her face as she strutted by. "Please send in a pot of tea for me and Mr. Malfoy." She didn't mean to sound so dismissive, as her assistant looked up at her.

Draco stood saying goodbye to the young assistant and followed Hermione into her office.

"You seem cheery today, or at least look that way." He took a seat across from her desk where he planted himself yesterday. His eyes looked up and down at her figure. She was wearing one of her favorite "flirty" dresses. The sheath, lace dress had a scooped neckline with short sleeves and scalloped cuffs. She'd only hesitated a little this morning when she'd pulled this from her closet. The dress made her feel happy and confident and this was exactly what she needed to feel today. Apparently Draco seemed to like it too because he kept looking at her.

"Are you ready for another long day?" Hermione asked him.

"As long as we don't have anymore unwelcome surprises." Malfoy said with all seriousness.

"I wish that I could assure you that we were bound to have a carefree day, but this is the wrong job for that." Hermione said sitting down in her comfy office chair. She pulled out a blank piece of white paper. At the top she had "Suspects" and then she started numbering from 1-20 on the side.

Looking up she noticed that Draco was snickering. "What's so funny Malfoy? Have you never seen a list before?"

"I'm not laughing at the fact that you have a list, I'm laughing because this is just so you." Hermione was trying to decide if he was making fun of her or not.

From the look on his face she had a feeling that he was making an observation and not acting like the old Malfoy. Back then he was always finding every opportunity to make fun of her.

"This normal, regular me is the one that always solves cases so you should be happy that I've not changed." Hermione added.

"I'm hoping with all of my heart that you are the same. Out of everyone I've known, you've been the most accomplished. If your great skills bring back my son, I say kudos to you." He grinned at her while sitting back in his chair.

"So first, who do you know that would hold any grudges against the Pureblood parents of the kidnapped children?" Hermione started with her questioning?

"Maybe it's a Muggleborn that is targeting our families." Draco offered first.

"Before you think that I'm crazy, I just have a feeling that's not the case." Hermione tapped her pen on the desk. "I'm thinking it's a Pureblood. They're making a point against Purebloods that may have switched sides during the war."

"You do know that Muggleborns can be as ruthless as Purebloods when it comes to enacting revenge?" Draco leaned forward as he made his point. "Look at you, I don't want to be on your bad side ever again." He cocked his eyebrow at her as he rubbed his fingers against his chin.

Hermione glared back at him. "Point taken, but…" she hesitated and looked at him. "OK, fair enough. Let's make two lists, one for Purebloods and the other for Muggleborns." She pulled out another piece of paper.

"You might as well get one more list started for Halfbloods too." Draco said.

Hermione hesitated, but gave up in order to keep the peace. "Great point Malfoy. Let's get started."

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"Gentlemen and Ladies we're meeting today to talk about protocol. Most specifically the handling of unknown packages and objects that come into our office."

Harry looked out to see the many bored and restless faces of the Aurors and office assistants in his department. He wasn't thrilled that Hermione had given him this task of training these people in such a mundane, but important thing. He knew that they would react the exact way they were responding now.

"What are we doing wrong boss?" Harry almost groaned as he heard Ron ask the question in a hostile tone. It seemed to be a pattern lately of Ron causing problems for him at work. Maybe he was getting lazy and tired of his job, but he seemed to be taking a lot of his frustrations out on Harry.

"What everyone is doing wrong is that we need to start wearing gloves when handling any projects or unknown parcels that come in." Harry tried to stay calm even though he felt like yelling at Ron and the rest of the apparently distracted Aurors. "This simple thing done daily by Muggles is something that should have been standard procedure here at the Ministry." His eyes narrowed in on Ron first because of his bad attitude.

"Yesterday we could have had a breakthrough in the kidnapping case if so many people hadn't handled the box sent from the kidnappers." Harry noticed that several of them had sat up and were now paying attention. There was also some whispering going on. Not everyone knew what had happened yesterday. "In the box was a finger of one of the kidnapped children."

Seamus raised his hand, "Do we know which child was maimed?"

Harry hesitated but answered, "Yes, we were able to identify the child, but we will not be letting the identity of the child known right now. Once Deputy Head Granger feels like it's necessary, I will be informing you."

"Also know that Deputy Head Granger is working on a spell to help identify fingerprints more accurately, even under situations where a package had been manhandled," Harry added.

"Well, if anyone can figure something out, it'll be Hermione." Parvati spoke out and of course everyone nodded in agreement. Even though Hermione had been gone for seven years, most people were in awe of her intelligence and innovating ideas.

"Now for more procedures that need to be reviewed." More groans could be heard as Harry continued his lecture. He was going to finish this up so he could be off doing more pleasant things like helping Hermione catch the thugs who were behind the kidnappings.

Xxxxxxxxxx  
The sound of her stomach rumbling filled her office. Embarrassed, she looked up and saw Malfoy trying to hold back a grin. "Is someone's tummy ready for lunch?"

"Nice Malfoy…tummy?" Hermione couldn't hold back a bemused look on her face.

"Sorry Granger. You'll understand after you've had a child. Even the most prolific of adults have a hard time not letting in a bit of child-talk." Draco sat up straighter in his chair and smoothed his hair back with his hand.

"I wasn't necessarily making fun of you. It just took me by surprise." Hermione tried to ignore the man and get back to the lists they'd been working on.

"You may want to ignore your hunger pains," Draco stood up shaking out his legs, "But I'm heading somewhere for lunch. Would you like to join me?"

Hermione looked up at him like he'd spoken foreign words.

"What? Don't the employees of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement take lunch breaks?" Draco asked her in his typical, snotty Malfoy tone.

"Of course they do; but I don't usually stop for lunch." Hermione spoke back truthfully.

"I already knew the answer to that question." Draco leaned forward onto her desk, "I always see your little boyfriends taking several tea breaks, coffee breaks and lunch breaks throughout the day." His disdainful sneer apparent as he spoke of Harry and Ron.

"Well, it sounds like you take many of those same breaks if you've seen Harry and Ron out and about on their breaks." Hermione huffed back at him.

"I never said that those of us in the Department of International Magical Cooperation didn't take breaks." He stood up proudly, crossing his arms. "We know when it's important to take a brain break."

Hermione smiled and started to open her mouth to say something about his brain, when Draco leaned back over and put his finger over her lips, "Don't even say it…are you coming or not?"

She looked at the man who had been working by her side all morning and decided a break might be a good thing. "Yes, I'll come with you."

"Good Granger. It'd be a shame to not head out into the open to show off that cute little frock you're wearing today." He winked at her and sauntered out of her office, his words almost making her blush-almost.

xxxxxx

As Hermione ran to catch up with Malfoy, neither one of them noticed the man holding a red package that was being carried to the office by a low-level assistant that hadn't bothered to go to the meeting earlier that day. It had been delivered by one of those unusual Muggle postmen again. Oh well, it wasn't his problem. All he did every day was fetch and carry for his higher ups. He might as well be a house elf for the jobs he was assigned to do. Where was everyone anyhow? The frustrated man dropped the box on the first desk in the door and then left to go eat his now mushy sandwich he'd brought from home.

xxxxx

Not another box! Yes, another surprise from the kidnappers. I hope that you're liking the story so far. As I keep reminding readers and reviewers, this story may be slow going, but I'm developing a real plotline and want it to be as real as possible. If you like the story I'm always open to reviews!


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